Choosing Black
by C-Jay CD
Summary: Continues after the newborn battle in Eclipse: Bella Swan is devastated that her best friend is hurt and wants to fix him. Even if it means letting down the love of her life.


**A/N: I revisited this and decided it needed work, here is the new and improved (hopefully) version.**

**Not Beta'd, mistakes are mine.**

**Disclaimer: Everything recognisable belongs to SM.**

**Enjoy :)**

Bella wipes her sweaty palms on her dirt ridden jeans then moves to wring them in front of herself, Edward places a cool hand at the small of her back but it does nothing to calm her. The rest of the Cullen's stand around Bella protectively, waiting for them to arrive.

The Volturi, Bella clenches her jaw at their tardiness, Alice predicted that they'd be here by now. The meeting should be over and Bella should be on her way to her broken best friend. She bites her lip hard trying to keep the tears at bay.

Nobody seems to notice anyway, Edward is busy in a hushed conversation with Carlisle whilst the others listen tentatively.

She feels someone staring at her. Glancing to her right Bella finds Rosalie imploring her with golden eyes. Rosalie shoots her a sympathetic smile from where she is holding Emmett's hand and Bella nods. On some level she feels that Rosalie can see right through her brave façade. That she can see how truly worried and devastated Bella is about the condition of her best friend. It's strange really, but comforting none the less.

The Cullen's seem to stand up straighter and Carlisle strides forward, Esme at his side and Emmett and Jasper on either side of them. Edward pulls her behind them, Alice takes position behind Jasper on Edward's right whilst Rosalie stands on Bella's left behind Emmett. Edward's cold hand squeezes her and he shoots her an encouraging smile. She doesn't return it.

For the first time, she wants to blame him for this. All the time she thought it was her fault when in reality it probably was his. He was over a hundred years old and he should know better.

The Volturi stride forward then, wearing their ominous black cloaks that flow around them; Bella almost snorts, they look ridiculous. Only a few of them have come. Jane and Alec, Demetri and one that Bella can't remember the name of. That obviously meant it wasn't big business. Aro hadn't felt the need to be here to enforce the 'rules' of the vampire world.

They greet the Cullen's, Carlisle more warmly than the others. Esme twitches beside him and shifts her weight effectively bringing her closer to him and then takes his hand in hers. Jane's piercing eyes find Bella's and the vampire smirks evilly, a shiver involuntarily runs down her spine.

Jane speaks then and Bella tunes her out, her thoughts completely on the broken boy being carried back to his family home, broken in more than one way.

She is vaguely aware of the fact that Edward announces their wedding. The Volturi stand is shocked silence for a moment before nodding. They make threats, the Cullen's make promises. Promises that Bella doesn't think she'll be able to keep anymore. With parting words and warnings they are gone. Their stupid black cloaks trailing behind them.

Bella lets out a sigh of relief and turn towards the other side of the clearing. Paul appears from the trees pinning her with a piercing stare. She is scared for a moment, that he'll walk away and leave her there but he cocks his head to the side in a 'come hither' motion.

She pulls her hand free and stalks wordlessly towards him and lifts her arms in a child-like gesture. He grasps her under the arms and hoists her up, she wraps her legs around his waist and he balances her on his hip like a baby.

She can feel Edward behind her, "Don't go," he begs. But his pleading only makes her mad, her brow furrows.

"Edward I'm going, my best friend was almost mauled to death and I think right now he needs me more than you do." Her fiancé looks shocked for a moment as he considers this. He gazes into her eyes, the liquid gold having no effect on her decision.

"You can stop by later. Carlisle has left already to fix the boy. Let him and when he is feeling better you can go then." Edward tries to reason with her.

She shakes her head, "No. I'm going now. I- I have to see him. To see for myself that he's okay." She links her arms around Paul's neck and whispers, "Let's go."

He nods and begins to turn but Edward's cool hand grasps her arm, Paul huffs in frustration and Bella pats his arm in a placating manner.

She turns to Edward, "I'm going now let go or come with. Carlisle needs to be there and he may need assistance." Paul's snort that follows alerts her to the fact that Carlisle is merely being tolerated, Edward would still be forbidden.

He shakes his head, a hurt look in his eyes but Bella can't focus on that, right now Edward is not a priority. She gives him a half-hearted wave and then nods her head at Paul.

Paul turns and strides purposefully through the forest, Bella can't hold it back any longer, "How bad is he?" she whispers.

He shrugs, "A lot of his bones are broken, need re-setting, other than that, he'll live."

She winces, Paul is nothing but harsh when relaying Jake's injuries to her, but she supposes that she deserves it.

Finally Paul cuts through a break in the trees. Bella furrows her brow, Carlisle's car is already parked unevenly on the grass. Paul puts her down and then joins the rest of the pack as they have gathered outside.

Bella hovers for a moment, unsure of if she is welcome here or not, she swallows uneasily and brings her shoulder up to her ear.

Billy meets her eyes then, his own are red-rimmed but he lifts his head in a smooth gesture as if to say, _get yourself over here now, woman._

She doesn't need to be told twice, she walks over and Emily holds out a hand to her which she gratefully takes, Leah glances over at them and snorts, Bella just stares at her feet.

A loud scream from inside the house breaks the silence, Bella jumps and Emily squeezes her hand, the pack all wince simultaneously. Several more follow, Bella winces as do the pack, her patience running thin. She stares helplessly at the faded red door, Sam shakes his head at her as if to say, 'don't you go in there yet.'

Bella swallows, but stands still, her heart pounds beneath her chest, as she imagines what kind of physical pain her Jake must be under for it to cause this kind of reaction.

After what seems like a lifetime of waiting the screams die down to whimpers, Bella's heart gives another painful squeeze, Carlisle exits the house then and greets Billy with a handshake.

"Thank you," Billy says meaningfully, the Tribes hatred forgotten in this moment.

Carlisle nods, "Due to his fast healing, the bones were trying to re-set themselves, I had to re-break most of them," he hands Billy a packet of what looks to contain some kind of pills, probably painkillers.

He goes to leave and as he passes Bella he says, "He's asked to be left alone, but he wants to see you."

She nods at him and waits for his car to disappear then turns to Billy, he nods at her and that's all she needs.

Bella has never moved so fast, she makes it up the porch steps, down the hall, through the kitchen and into Jake's room.

She can't help the tiny gasping sob that escapes her, he's laid on his back, his large frame dwarfing the tiny bed, the left side of his body is completely bandaged and his face is covered in cuts and bruises.

More tears fall down her cheeks as she walks further into the room, the door swings shut behind her, she falls to her knee's at the edge of his bed and grasps the hand of his unbroken arm in both of hers gently, "Oh Jake," she whispers in between sobs.

He cracks open swollen eye slightly, "Stay..." he murmurs, Bella nods but he's already fallen asleep again.

Hours pass, the pack come in one by one to see Jake, they run their hand over his face, legs and arms, needing that touch, that reassurance that their brother will be okay.

Bella can see that it's evening now, Billy part-takes in a hushed conversation, then wheels himself into Jake's room, "That was Charlie, Bella, he asked if you planned on making it home tonight, you don't have the truck."

She swipes at her nose and stares up at Billy, "C-can I stay?" she clears her throat, "H-he asked me to s-stay?"

Billy looks at her for a moment, then shakes his head slowly, "I'll call Charlie and let him know, we can set up a cot by the window."

She nods gratefully and he closes the door behind him. Bella thinks that she should probably call the Cullen's. She's in no mood to deal with Edward however so she pulls out her cell phone and dials their home number.

Bella moves to the other side of the room, staring out of the window into the front yard, "Hello?" a musical voice cuts through her thoughts.

"Hi, Rosalie?"

There's a pause, "Yeah, it's me. Is everything… okay?"

Bella lets out a breath and bites her lip as it quivers, "I- I don't know. He still hasn't woken up." _How strange_, Bella thinks to herself, this conversation almost feels surreal.

"That'll be the meds Bella." Rosalie says impatiently and Bella remembers why she originally called. She clears her throat.

"C-can you let Edward know that I'm staying here tonight?"

Again Rosalie pauses, she briefly wonders if the annoying human girl knows what it is she's doing, "Fine. I'll tell him." Even though he was sat beside her listening and hurt that Bella hadn't called him directly.

"Okay, and thanks Rosalie."

"Yeah, bye."

She hangs up the phone and turns to Jake. His eyes are still closed, his chest rising and falling with every breath he takes. Bella can't help but marvel at his beauty. Sleeping soundly he is the most beautiful man Bella has ever come across. She frowns at herself for never seeing this before.

~CB~

Bella ends up staying longer than just one night. The cot by the window in Jake's room has become her place for three nights now. Today she wakes up at dawn, she gets up from the cot and makes her way over to Jakes bed. The cuts on his face have almost healed, the broken bones have not.

She uses the bathroom and Jake's toothbrush then makes her way to the kitchen. Billy has already eaten so she usher's him to the back porch with a newspaper crossword and gets busy. She pulls out all the dishes and rearranges the cupboards, which takes 'till midday, Jake still hasn't woken up.

Preparing something light for dinner, she decides to call her father. Billy told her that the Tribe's men caught a lot of salmon at this time of year and he has a freezer full of it. She decides to poach the salmon steaks in lemon juice.

Charlie comes over for dinner that night. Truth is, he misses his baby girl. For the past four days he's had a feel of what it's going to be like when Bells leaves for college and stuff and he hates it.

He launches into this rant about how dangerous motorcycles are since that's what they told him as the cover story. He yells at Bella for having one herself, more out of fear than anger. But she is just so high on emotions that she starts crying. In the end they compromise; Bella could ride her bike in the summer only (it was the only time they had semi-dry weather) and she had to wear a helmet at all times.

This only makes Bella cry harder and she excuses herself to the bathroom. This upcoming 'summer' she wouldn't be able to go out at all because she'd be a vampire. The thought alone makes her shiver with fear and sadness weigh down in her stomach.

~CB~

On the seventh day Jake finally wakes up. She's so relieved and they cry together for a moment. Billy and the pack pile in throughout the morning, saying 'hi' and ribbing Jake non-stop. Their banter makes her smile.

The smile disappears when Leah Clearwater walks into Jake's room. She looks contrite and guilty. Jake shakes his head at her, "Don't. It wasn't your fault."

She nods and eyes Bella mysteriously, "I see you're still here."

Bella clears her throat and glares at Leah, "Yes. You have a problem with that?" Leah looks taken aback for a moment but then she is subtly impressed. Who knew Swan had it in her. Bella turns to Jake, "I have to go to the church, I prayed a lot that you'd be okay and you're on your way to being so, I want to visit the church."

Jake swallows thickly, Bella can see the mistrust in his eyes; he still thinks she's going to run.

"I can drive you there." Leah breaks the silence and Bella reluctantly agrees.

In the end though, Bella has nothing to worry about, the two girls find they have much in common and come away firm friends. Leah even hands out her cell number, something she rarely does these days.

As they pull up back at the Black's place, Bella thinks; _Leah isn't so bad after all._

~CB~

The next day Carlisle comes back to check up on Jake. Bella's nerves are in a tangle as she wonders what her future father-in-law will say to her.

Much to her surprise though, Carlisle focuses solely on Jake. He mentions that he's studied the wolves in the past few days and found that Jakes progress is completely normal- well normal for a shape shifter.

He doesn't even mention Edward and for this Bella is thankful. She doesn't think she can answer any questions truthfully. She doesn't think she can handle even the slightest mention of her fiancé.

Carlisle prescribes more painkillers and then leaves. Bella lets out a huge breath she didn't even know she was holding. Jake frowns at her.

~CB~

By the two week marker Jake's leg and arm are both healed along with his collarbone, though his ribs are still sore.

Quil and Embry come over with instructions from Sam to help Jake take a bath. They tease him endlessly as they help him to the bathroom. Bella takes this opportunity to change his sheets.

Bella decides to cook spaghetti and meatballs, Quil and Embry stay for dinner. Their banter is playful as they tease each other with familiarity and Jake seems to be the butt of most jokes.

They sit together on the floor of Jake's bedroom whilst he is propped up in bed until late and just talk. About their hopes and dreams, Bella doesn't participate, she listens. And they don't ask her, mostly they know how things are gonna end for her.

That night Bella doesn't sleep in the cot, she shares Jake's bed. He's still hurt so she is as careful as she can possibly be but she manages to rest her head on his chest and curl into his non-broken side. She thinks that she has never felt so content.

~CB~

Sixteen days it has been. Billy doesn't seem to mind though. And Bella has even gotten through many curious phone calls with the Black twins.

Jake is well enough to walk around now, though Sam has ordered another week of 'bed-rest', to make the motorcycle accident cover story believable.

Billy resides to the porch with a crossword in hand. He likes to give the kids some privacy, a part of him is still holding onto the hope that the girl he considers a daughter of his own will change her mind about her fate.

Charlie calls and asks if Bella thinks she'll be coming home yet. Bella stutters for a moment and Jake gives her longing look from where he's now sat at the kitchen table, a forkful of scrambled eggs half way to his mouth.

Bella swallows thickly and tells Charlie that Jake still needs her and then hangs up. She knows that she should probably go home, it had been over two weeks since she'd had any sort of contact with the man she was marrying soon. She felt so guilty of the fact that she was willingly ignoring him. But staying here in the Black home is giving her the time and space to think about her decisions. And the more she thinks, the more she realises that she may have made a terrible mistake.

~CB~

At three weeks Jake is completely healed. He is trying to catch up on school work and Bella is helping him. He sits back against the headboard in his room whilst Bella perches by his knees.

They are going over algebra and despite Jake claiming not to know 'anything', he's proven to Bella that he is actually very smart and good with numbers.

After a couple of hours they decide to take a break from all the work. Jake decides that he should talk to Bella about something that has been bothering him since he woke up.

"You know you have to go back, Bells?" Bella figures he's talking about more than just Charlie's place, her home.

She shrugs, "I don't want to leave you."

Jake's eyes widen and he can't help the hope that blooms in his chest at this but the smooth mask is back in place before she can see it. "You don't mean that Bells," he says quietly, hoping that she's not lying to him.

He doesn't know if he can survive that blow, "You'd miss your own wedding," he says, his eyes staring at her intently, gauging her reaction.

She stares out the window for a while then turns to him and squares her shoulders, "What wedding?"

And somewhere in the back of her mind, she can hear Edward's marble heart shatter.

**Review if you like :)**


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